Trials Of The Heart
by Aussie Trebs
Summary: Now working at the Ministry, Harry is often found talking to the veil, where he lost his godfather 8 years ago. Will Harry finally be able to let go of the past when an old friend returns? Please R
1. Chapter one

Trials of the Heart.

Chapter 1.

'I almost asked her out today, almost had the nerve.' Harry says, seemingly to no-one, though those who know him know better.

'She came over to my desk to give me some paperwork, and I talked to her, but whenever I decided to ask her the words sort of stuck in my throat.'

Strangers watching would say he was mad, but his friends know he is only talking to his godfather.

Though Sirius Black had died 8 years previous, Harry had never been able to get over it, to let go.

'I'll probably never have the courage to do it, but I suppose it's saving me some grief, 'cause she'd never feel the same way about me.'

Harry gave a bitter laugh and shook his head before getting to his feet. Brushing the dust from his work robes with his left hand he raised his right and let it caress the old, ragged veil. The soft muttering from behind continuing, as if inviting him to come join them. He shook his head once more, muttered a farewell to his invisible confidant and strode up the stairwell, two steps at a time.

Upon leaving the Department of Mysteries (of which he was now so accustomed to that he needn't even mark the doors anymore) he headed to the bank of elevators and pressed the call button, as he needed to collect his papers from the office. A moment later he heard the jangling and clattering of an approaching lift and the golden grille slid back to allow him access.

'Hello' said a sweet voice as he entered the lift.

Harry was startled, obviously he was not the only person to have remained late at the ministry.

'Oh, hello Mana.' Harry smiled jovially, relieved to see Mandy and not the other woman from his office, whom he had been discussing only moments earlier.

Mandy Brocklehurst had been in the same year as Harry at Hogwarts, in Ravenclaw, but they had never spoken to each other before they had wound up working at the ministry together. She had very slim frame, long face and long flowing brown hair, framing a kind face with sparkling green eyes that reminded Harry of his own.

'What are you doing at the ministry so late?'

'I could ask you the same question.' She replied, giving him a wicked grin.

'Uh, I was just,' _Damn it, why can't I think of an excuse?_ 'Uh, returning something.' He finished lamely.

He couldn't tell her he had been talking to his dead godfather, she would think him mad! There was really only one person who knew that he still spoke with Sirius.

'So what are you doing here?' Harry re-asked his question.

'Nothing really, just wasting time before I have to meet Ron for dinner'

Harry had introduced them last year and they had been together since. Personally he thought it was great that Ron had been able to get over being dumped by Susan Bones at the end of their 7th year of school. He had taken it pretty rough and had cried for about a month. He had stopped when he found out he had been excepted to play Quidditch for the Chudley Cannons.

'Right, right.'

'Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquators and Wizengamot Administration Services.' said the cool female voice.

The grille slid back and they stepped out. Harry quickly gathered the papers on his desk and headed back out to the lifts to return home to Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

Harry opened the door quietly and crept through the old entranceway, which he did out of habit from when Mrs. Black's portrait had hung there. Over the past 8 years the house had become fit to stay at, and finally, after much excessive use of Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess-Remover, a respectable place to live.

He walked in to the kitchen and dumped all the ministry papers on the desk. _Oh thank god tomorrows the weekend_ Harry thought.

He made his way to the cupboard, deliberating over what meal for one he could make himself tonight when his thoughts were interrupted by a crash from upstairs.

_Oh great, what now, _Harry thought as he pulled of his heavy robes and drew out his wand.

Holding his wand out in front of him like a sword he approached the next floor. Stealthily he climbed the staircase, rather than apperating, to avoid letting his intruder know that he had been heard.

_It's probably another of Voldemort's old supporters again, her to avenge their fallen master _Harry thought bitterly. Ever since Voldemort's downfall at the hands of Harry six years previous, Harry had had many death eater intruders, insane with rage over the downfall of their former master. The last had been a couple of months ago and Harry had been assured by his fellow ministry workers that that had been the last of them.

_Obviously not, _he thought as he approached his bedroom, where he could hear someone muttering to himself or herself.

Turning the doorknob slowly he flung open the door and was amazed by what he saw.

Standing before him, in what were obviously her pajamas, was Ginny Weasley. Her green silk nighty moved smoothly over her dainty frame, showing off her lovely figure as she bent over to pick up what Harry realized was the photos and other personal belongings that had, until a moment ago, stood on Harry's dressing table. They had obviously been knocked of the top by Ginny, climbing in through his window.

Ginny had stopped in the middle of putting one of the photos back in place to gaze at the photo, a picture taken years ago of Harry and her.

'I suppose this is your way of telling me to shift my dresser to a more convenient place' Harry said, his eyes twinkling.

She turned around quickly, startled by the sound and subsequently dropping the picture to the floor, causing the frame to smash.

Harry smiled at his friend and past love, as she picked up her bag, deposited it on the bed, and crossed the room to harry in a couple of quick steps to embrace him in a tight, warm hug.

'Oh Harry, It's been far to long!' She squealed, 'Sorry about the pictures.' She added sheepishly.

'Not a problem' he replied, and with a quick wave of his wand the broken frame was repaired and returned to the top of the dresser. 'But may I ask what you were doing climbing through my bedroom window at 8 in the evening?' Harry asked grinning.

'Well it's sort of a long story, and I am really hungry.'

'That makes two of us. So come and join me down in the kitchen and you can tell me all the details over dinner. I've got all the time in the world tonight.' Harry said, grinning as he caught on to her hand and led his old friend down the stairs.


	2. Chapter two

Trials of the Heart 

Chapter 2: Ginny's Story

Leading Ginny down the stairs, he thought back to the last time he had seen her. It had been two years earlier but Harry could remember it as if it had only been two days. He and Ginny were dating at the time, and Harry had taken her out to dinner.

_She was a vision, dressed in the most beautiful outfit had ever seen on her, a green strapless evening dress, and he couldn't wait till they got home so he could take it off her. _

'_Well hello you.' Harry said, taking her hand. 'Are you ready to go in?'_

'_Of course.' She replied smiling, cheekily giving his bum a pinch with her free hand._

This night was the night he was going to propose, to finally say what he had wanted to say for the past four years.

'Wow Gin, how long has it been?' 

'Too long, definitely. Did you get the letter I left you when I went away?'

He looked back at her, and noticed she was no longer smiling, and instead had a look of apology.

'Yeah I got the letter.' Harry replied, his voice distant.

'I would have told you in person, but I'm not sure I would have been able to leave if I had.'

'It's fine Gin, really.'

Though harry new that back then it hadn't been fine, back then he hadn't left the house for a month.

_After they had finished their desert, Harry got down off his chair, and on to one knee._

_Ginny swallowed hard and her eyes grew wide as Harry took her hand in his._

'_Ginny, I have wanted to do this for so long. I love you with all my heart and my life would be complete if you would take my hand in marriage.'_

_With a flourish of his hand he drew out a ring from his breast pocket. It was 18 carat gold, with diamond clusters set into the band, surrounding emerald cut 2-carat diamond. _

'_Oh my god.' Ginny gasped, as Harry slid the ring on to her finger.'_

'_Is that a yes?'_

'So what do you want to eat?' Harry asked her once they were in the kitchen.

'Well, if I remember correctly, you were never much of a cook.'

'I couldn't agree with you more, so it looks like we'll be eating take away.'

_The next day, when Harry woke up and rolled over, he found not his future wife, but a letter._

_Written in large letters on the front of a folded piece of paper was his name. Confused, Harry picked up the letter and opened it up, rereading every line to make sure he completely understood what was written. _

'Well as you probably already heard from Ron, for the past couple of years I've been living in the States, staying with my pen friend Jake.' Ginny started her story, pausing briefly to take her next mouthful of Chinese food.

'You had a pen friend in America? Ron didn't tell me that.'

'Yeah, well, I didn't tell Ron that. He would have freaked out if he'd known that I was staying with someone that I only knew through letters. He has enough trouble dealing with me dating people that he knows. Not that I was dating Jake.' She added, as she saw Harry's perplexed look.

'So yeah, I was staying with Jake and after about a month he tells me to move out. I had no idea why, because I'd been paying my share of the rent, and staying out his way most of time.' Ginny paused to take a large gulp from her glass of pumpkin juice. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand she continued.

'So there I was, kicked out on to the streets, not knowing any one, and hardly any money. I'd been working part time as a waitress, because the ministry over there don't really like to hire foreign witches.' She explained. 'So I caught one of the muggle taxi's to the nearest motel. I later found out that Jake had kicked me out because one of the girls he was seeing thought that he was cheating on her with me, and Jake always does any thing that his girlfriends say. If you ask me she should have been more worried about the other 5 women he had coming round during the week.' She made a face before once more continuing.

'Staying at the motel was a lot better than staying with Jake, mainly 'cause I wasn't kept up half the night by the sound of his bed creaking as he had sex. Plus it was cheaper.' Having finished her meal they had migrated in to the lounge room, where she began to pick at a loose thread in the couch. 'I quit my job and decided to travel the rest of America, check out what else was on offer. While travelling I stayed with some of mum and dad's cousins, and paid my way by doing odd jobs for our ministry.'

'Yeah, I heard about that,' Harry interrupted 'you did a couple of jobs for the inter-country relations.' Ron had told Harry about some of the things she was doing, talking with different wizards about trade deals and the like, when certain English wizards couldn't make it over seas due to other appointments.

'Well then, since you already know about all that I wont have to bore you with the tedious details' she replied, flashing him a grin. 'After the last meeting I'd had, in New York, I was walking back to my relative's place, because it was only a block away, when I was mugged.' She looked down after saying that, as if ashamed, 'there was a couple of big blokes and they bashed me up before I had a chance to reach my wand. They took almost everything I was carrying, including that necklace you had made me when I graduated from Hogwarts. They had knocked me unconscious and left me in the gutter, probably hoping I would die.' She wiped a tear away and smiled 'But as you can see I'm perfectly fine.'

Harry moved closer and gave her a one handed hug, rubbing her back, 'Geez, you poor thing, you're lucky to be here.'

'Harry I'm fine.' She said, but she didn't try to remove his arm from her.

'So I went back to the house, packed up my things and caught the train out of New York. I made my way down south, to Alabama. I started working on a farm down there and everything was going great. After a couple of months I got a bit bored with it all and was thinking about coming home, to see everyone again. Well one of the farmer's sons didn't think much of this, and so he sneaked into my room and told me that he loved me. When I didn't return the feelings he tried to get violent, but I pulled out my wand and sent him flying in to an empty closet.' She aloud her self a laugh at this point, even though harry could see that she didn't think what could have happened funny at all.

'I chucked all my clothes in my bag and decided to come back to London. I was planning on apparating here, at your front door, but I still haven't really perfected it, (I was so shocked when the passed me), and I ended up on your roof instead.' She smiled at Harry, and he returned the gesture.

'So, enough about me, what have you been up to the past couple of years?'

'Well,' Harry began, 'nothing nearly as exciting as what you've been doing. Mainly just work to tell the truth.'

'Well you were right when you said it wasn't interesting.' Ginny said, grinning at him cheekily.

'Right, that's it.' And with that Harry pounced on Ginny and tickled her madly, until they were both puffed and lay beside each other on the floor, gasping for breath.

'Work can't be all that you've been doing. What about parties? Oh, what about your love life?' She asked, staring at him intently. 'Surely a stud like you would have had the girls hanging off you.'

'Well,' Harry began, not really sure whether he wanted to confide in her what he had only told his godfather, and the others behind the veil. 'I haven't had any girlfriends since you left. But not from lack off offers.' Seeing her stricken look he added 'Not because of you!'

'Ok, then why?'

'Well, because none of the girls that have asked me out have been the girl I like.'

'Ooh, who is this girl you like Harry?' She leaned towards him, keen to find out whom he was clearly besotted with. 'Is it someone you work with? Do I know her? Or him?' She added with a grin.

'Well,' _bloody inquisitive nature. _'Yes you do know HER, and yes I do work with her.'

'Well? Who is it?'

'Hermione.'

'YOU'RE KIDDING ME!' Ginny yelled, jumping to her feet. 'OH MY GOD!' Grinning madly she ran in to the kitchen. 'Where's the phone?' Her voice echoed through the hall.

'Why?' Harry asked, chasing after her.

''Cause I need to tell her!' she replied, sticking her head around the door, grinning madly.

'No you're bloody well not!' Harry said, pulling her back around.

'Ha ha, I feel like a 15 year old, well, like a muggle 15 year old, cause we didn't have a phone in our house.'

Harry gave her a serious look and she said 'Oh fine then I wont tell her. How long have you liked her for?'

'About two months after you left me.'

'Well I'm glad you listened to my advice in the letter.'

_Just forget me Harry, move on like I am. We're not right for each other Harry._

'Yeah, well, it didn't do me any good. She's still with her boyfriend, Edward.'

'Wow, she's still with him? Well it looks like you're up loves creek with out a paddle.'

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Ok people, here is the next chapter. It's mainly just for some info on what has happened to them. Thank you guys sooo much for the reveiws!Please reveiw again and let me know what you think! 


	3. Chapter three

Trials of the Heart 

Chapter 3: Sleepless night

Harry couldn't sleep. He had been lying awake in bed for, how long was it now? He rolled over to look at the clock on his bedside, but before he could register the time his legs got caught in his sheet's and he landed with a heavy thump on the floor.

_Ow, _Harry held the back of his head, which now had a dull ache.

Struggling, he managed to pull himself to a sitting position and tried to release his legs from his covers. When he had finally managed it he looked at the time. The electric red glow of his alarm clock showed the time as being _4:00am_.

_4 hours? Let me sleep!_

Harry stood up and knew he was so awake now that he would never get to sleep. All he could think about was Ginny. He thought about what she had been through in the States, wondered about why she had left him, and wondered about the possibility of them getting back together.

_No, she left you for a reason, she left because she doesn't love you anymore._

He didn't need to wonder about why she had apparated to his house though. It was not because of old feelings, it was because she had nowhere else to go. Voldemort had murdered her father, Arthur, in the war. Death Eaters had murdered her two eldest brothers, Bill and Charlie. Percy had not been seen since the end of the war, most believed him to be dead. The twins, Fred and George, had been driven into insanity. Their Joke shop still existed though, now being run by the Creevey brothers. Her mother, Molly, had not been able to cope with it all and had committed suicide. The only family Ginny had left, apart from distant relatives, was her brother Ron. However they had stopped talking when Ron discovered she had gone to America to escape marriage. That was two months after she had actually left.

He stepped out in to the hallway and towards the stairs. But as he passed the room Ginny was staying in, he heard a soft muffled sobbign sound. Pushing the door open a crack, he looked in and saw her huddled over on her bed, looking at a book. She was still wearing her green pajamas, and now had her long red hair tied back in a bun. What he had thought was a book, turned out to be a photo album, and the pictures on the page depicted members of her family, all smiling up at her, waving occasionally. He watched a moment longer and saw a single tear slide down her cheek. He deecided this was not a moment to intrude on someone else's mourning, and continued to the stairs to get a drink from the kitchen.

Passing her room on the way back he glanced in and saw her curled into a ball on top of her covers, the album on her bedside table.

Back in his room, Harry lay on his bed, his eyes shut tight, willing himself to sleep. He thought he had been at it for at least an hour, but when he checked his clock it read _4:15_.

_Bugger this, _Harry thought.

He walked over to his dresser and changed in to his muggle clothes. A moment later there was a loud crack and he was gone.

Had he waited, he would of have realized that he was not the only one having trouble sleeping. Ginny pushed his door open gently and gazed in. wondering where he could possibly be she returned soundlessly to her bed.

Harry sat down softly in front of the veiled archway. A feeling of contentedness swept over him and he began to speak to those no longer of this world.

Harry told Sirius everything Ginny had told him, and he imagined his godfather sitting on the other side of the veil, listening to his every word. He imagined the reactions on his face, the face that had been robbed of good looks by years in Azkabam.

"What I don't get though," Harry said at the end of Ginny's tale, "is why she turned up in her pajama's? The time difference between here and there would be about six hours, right?" He asked, almost expecting an answer. "I don't know, maybe it's nothing."

Harry rubbed his tired eyes before glancing at his watch. _6:00 am._

Giving a huge yawn harry stood up.

"Well, thanks for listening." He said to the veil. "I better get back in case Ginny wakes up and wonders where I am."

Smirking he added, "Though if I remember correctly, she was never much of a morning person."

And with that he was gone.

Passing the kitchen on his way to the stairs, he noticed Hedwid was back, and also had a letter attached to her leg.

"Well it's about time you were back." He said, smiling at his snowy owl.

She replied with a soft hoot as he removed the letter from her leg.

Reaching in to a packet on the counter he threw her some owl treats.

"Come back down in a couple of hours and I'll have something a bit more substantial for you if you want." Looking at her sideways he added, "Though maybe you'd prefer to catch something alive."

He left her in the kitchen to contemplate his offer and walked in to the lounge to read his letter.

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Ok i know this chapter is a bit short but i have to decide who the letters from...he he. Please read and reveiw, you can eveninsult me thats what you want to do, so long as you reveiw! xoxo 


	4. Chapter four

Trials of the Heart.

Chapter 4: The Letter

Harry rubbed his eyes before settling in to the couch and broke the seal on his letter. Unfolding his letter he noticed his friend Ron's handwriting and began to read:

Harry,

Sorry it's taken me so long to write back but training has been taken up so much of my time and if your annoyed you're not the only one. Mandy has been missing me so much and I suppose it's understandable, me being so hot.

How are you going mate? How's the devastating crush on Hermione going? I saw her last week with Edward and she didn't look too happy. Point in fact they were having a fight. Maybe there's a chance for you after all.

But seriously man what I want to say to you has to do with what you told me in your last letter. You may not see anything wrong with talking to your dead godfather but I don't really think it's that healthy. I don't mean to be rude or anything, but mate, you've got to let go of the past sometime. Remember our first year at Hogwarts, when you found the Mirror of Erised? Until I got your letter I had almost forgot about it but this has reminded me and this time you don't have Dumbledore to tell you to stop. I'm saying this as a friend so don't go off at me. I know you miss Sirius but this has got to stop mate.

I'd like to catch up with you sometime soon if you want to. My next match is next weekend so maybe we could get a drink together afterwards?

See ya,

Ron.

As harry got further through the letter his brow creased and heh got the urge to write back and tell Ron where he could shove his advice. But deep inside he knew that Ron was only trying to help.

Pulling a spare bit of parchment from the table beside him he scrawled _'Sure mate, I'll meet you in the change rooms after the match'_ He considered telling Ron that his sister had returned but didn't think Ron needed to worry about anything else before his match.

Harry folded over his reply, put Ron's name on the front and left it on the table to give to Hedwig later.

He glanced down at his watch. _9.14._ he stood up and with a loud crack apperated outside Ginny's room. Pushing the door open gently he glanced in and went dizzy with what he saw.

_Damn it I thought I was over her, _he thought to himself as he closed the door softly, not wanting her to realize he had just seen her getting changed. Not only that but she hadn't been wearing anything.

Running his hand's through his hair he walked back to his room, unable to get the image out of his head. She still had the best body he had ever seen however in that brief look he had noticed some scars on her that hadn't been there 2 years ago. _Probably just some accident, some new extreme sport from America, nothing too serious _he thought, though he was worried about her.

In the shower Harry thought about Ron's letter, and the advice he had been given. Let go of the past. Harry thought it was bit ironic seen as the former love of his life had just came back into his life. But he knew Ron was right, he couldn't hold on to Sirius forever.

He turned the taps off and stepped. Looking at himself in the mirror he ran his hand through his wet hair. _What are you doing mate? He's dead, just get over it._ But he knew he couldn't.

Grabbing his towel from the rack he wrapped it around his waist and stepped out into the hallway to make his way back to his room. As he did Ginny stepped out of hers and looked at him.

Smiling she said "Good morning." Looking him quickly up and down she turned to make her way down the stairs.

"Morning." He said to her back, feeling a bit sheepish.

She turned to flash him a smile before continuing and Harry felt relieved she didn't know what he had seen a moment ago.

"I had almost forgotten how good a cook you were." Harry said to her as he took a bite of her pancakes a moment later in the kitchen.

"Mum taught me everything I know." She replied, working on the second batch. "So what's on for today?"

"Well," Harry began "Absolutely nothing." He finished lamely.

"Well do you want to go into Diagon Alley? I haven't been there in ages and I probably need to get some things anyway."

"Yeah ok, sounds like a plan. Do you want to leave when you finish breakfast?"

Yep that'd be great, could you watch this for a moment?" She asked referring to the pancakes. "I'll just grab my bag so I'll be ready when I finish."

"Sure thing." He replied standing up as she left.

Walking past each other aloud her body to brush past his and he gave a little inward smile.

Upstairs in her room Ginny grabbed her bag off the dresser but as she turned to leave she caught site of her reflection in the mirror.

Her top had slightly rode up and showed her midriff. But that was not all that caught eye. Just showing on her skin was part of a large bruise on her abdomen. Reaching into her bag she withdrew her wand and waved it over the bruise. As if by magic (which it was) it disappeared.

"I hope that doesn't wear off too quickly." She muttered to herself as she strode out of the room.

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Ok guys sorry it took me so long to update, no excuse really, just being lazy lol. pls pls pls review. sorry if there are lots of spelling mistakes or grammer mistakes, i dont mean it lol. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Diagon Alley 

Travelling on the Knight Bus had never been Harry's favourite way to travel but he was out of Floo Powder and he wasn't sure he really trusted Ginny's skill at apparating.

The bus was crowded and as they prepared to hop on they were almost knocked over by the mad rush of people to get off, some looking very green in the face. They boarded the bus and paid a very enthusiastic conductor their 11 sickles. Looking at the driver's mirror Harry noticed the driver as being Stan. Remembering the green faced pasengers he wondered whether this was the best way to get to the Leaky Cauldron.

Walking up the narrow aisle to some vacant seats at the back Harry almost fell over when the bus abruptly took off. Finding his feet again the pair sat down in their seats and Harry gave Ginny a sheepish grin.

'Honestly Harry, anyone would would think that you'd never travelled by bus before.'

Unfortunately for her the moment she said this the bus made the leap from London to Manchester and with a startled yell she found herself sprawled on the floor.

Laughing almost uncontrollably Harry reached down to her.

'What was that you were saying?' He asked, grinning as he grabbed her wrist.

But as he did so he noticed her wince.

'What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?'

Concerned, Harry got down on the floor with her, taking care not to kneel in anyone's discarded chewing gum.

'Oh it's nothing, I just landed a bit awkward it's nothing…'

However Harry had not believed this, and though he didn't question her further, he still had his suspicions. He thought that it was the conversation that would be more suited at home in private, than in public on the dirty floor of wizarding public transport where Stan was keen to not only put in his 2 knut worth but a whole galleon.

The remainder of the trip passed in almost complete silence between the two, except when the elderly Madame Marsh made her way to leave the bus. Stan, in an effort to impress, stood up to help her out and tripped down the stairs, his face landing in a cow pat lying at the bottom of the steps. Madame Marsh, now almost completely blind, had not noticed anything and made her way down to the ground via Stan's back.

Moments later Harry and Ginny walked down Diagon Alley, via the Leaky Cauldron's backyard. The made their way first to Madame Malkin's as Ginny no longer had any, as she told him in her haste to leave America she had had very little time to pack. _Or so she told me _Harry thought, hating himself for being so disbelieving. _She wouldn't do anything stupid._

As they had come on the on August 23 it was surprising to see that the store was completely packed with Hogwarts students, new and old. 'Is it just me or have the first years gotten shorter and shorter over the years?' Harry said grinning over his shoulder at Ginny. However, right up the back of the shop near the change rooms, Harry noticed a girl standing there, waiting alone to go into the change rooms. 

'Hermione' Harry breathed so softly he was surprised when Ginny turned him around and gave him a look that plainly said to go over to her.

He started to move when Ginny gave him a hard shove, making him almost knock over a child almost half his size, and that was saying something considering Harry had barely grown an inch since he left Hogwarts.

Ginny watched Harry walk over to Hermione, feeling a sadness well up inside her. _Don't be so stupid, you left him, remember? _Ginny scolded her wretched emotions and instead concentrated on what colour robe's she would like. Harry had offered to buy her everything she needed, and as Ginny was almost broke she had no problem letting him, though still got a sting of guilt about taking his money. _You mean his charity. _She again scolded herself, knowing that Harry was just a good person by nature.

She glanced over to where Harry was standing with Hermione and saw them talking animatedly.

'Probably hasn't even bothered to mention that I'm back.' She muttered to herself.

'Hey, Hermione!' Harry called when there was only about three people between them.

When she saw who was calling Hermione's face lit up. 'Hi Harry!' She replied, unable to hide the weariness in her voice.

'What's up?' Harry put a puzzled look on his face at her tone, secretly hoping that she had finally left Ed the tossar, as Harry affectionately referred to him in the comfort of his own home.

(He had had Hermione and Edward over for tea a couple of times and though he seemed to be a nice enough guy he had this really annoying habit of making jokes that weren't funny and then laughing like a maniac at them. Hermione had put in a polite 'ha ha' to the first couple but it was plain that she though very little of them. Indeed the last one had been in very poor taste, involving a gnome, a pixie and some very unorthadox events involving some large garden tools.)

'Oh not much really, just dropped of some old robes in the charity bin and thought I'd try on some new dress one's.'

Taking a glance in the charity bin beside her, Harry noticed one of the tags sticking out of some very fancy green robes bore the name 'E. Gray'.

Harry gave Hermione a questioning look and she gave a heavy sigh and a pointed look that said enough to give Harry what he needed. On the inside he was screaming 'YES YES YES!' but on the outside he put on a sympathetic look and gave her an awkward one armed hug, not able to manage much else as he was currently being squashed between some sixth and seventh years.

' I got something that might cheer you up.' Cupping her chin gently in his hand he turned her head to where Ginny was standing, looking very bored and irritable in line behind some first years with their fussy mothers.

'OH MY GOD GINNY!' Hermione screamed, leaving Harry standing next to the change rooms wondering how badly his hearing had been damaged.


End file.
